News

'Saggy pants' passenger won't face charges

By Bay City News Service

The San Mateo County District Attorney's Office has decided not to file charges against a man who was taken off an airplane at San Francisco International Airport last month after he refused to comply with crew members' orders to pull up his sagging pants.

Deshon Marman, 20, was arrested June 15 on suspicion of battery on a police officer, trespassing and resisting arrest after he allegedly ignored requests by U.S. Airways staff to pull up his pants to cover his underwear, both before he boarded and while on the plane, according to San Francisco police.

Marman then allegedly refused to leave the plane after the captain ordered all passengers off the aircraft. He was escorted off the plane by police and allegedly resisted officers when they tried to handcuff him, according to police.

San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said his office reviewed investigative reports from the Sheriff's Office and the San Francisco Police Department's airport bureau and decided not to charge Marman.

"We do not believe that criminal charges are warranted in light of all of the circumstances surrounding the incident," Wagstaffe said.

He said, however, that he believes the responding officers acted appropriately and that Marman could have prevented the situation from escalating.

"The incident came just days before 20 year-old University of New Mexico football player Deshon Marman made headlines when he was booted off a US Airways flight after airline personnel approached him about his pants sagging too low."

The man in panties has logged many miles (top tier frequent flier, I'm told) and no one ever said a word.

But when you ain't white....

Deshon knew the game. It was documented he was polite and respectful, used "sir" multiple times in his dealings with the pilot and the police. The pilot was caught in the middle as were the police when the pilot had to stand up for his stew, no matter how wrong he was.

The flight attendants' race doesn't matter. What does matter is that people with a little power are abusing that authority to harass customers that they perceive as lower in the pecking order. In this case, they did so without any consideration for the passenger or for other passengers -- who were probably more distressed by the incident than by the sagging itself.

I personally would not even notice if I were sitting next to a guy who was sagging. If I were sitting next to the underwear guy, I would probably offer him a blanket. Planes can be cold.

Posted by what up?
a resident of Woodside: other
on Jul 14, 2011 at 12:43 pm

Sorry, yes, Mr. Marman. My bad.

The video contains the image of the captain and the police officer, but neither of the flight attendants.

I'm only quoting today's article in the Palo Alto Daily Post which said that in an interesting turn both of the flight attendants were African-American. Unfortunately the Post doesn't have an online link or I would provide it.

If you're suggesting that the sisters profiled Mr. Marman, then so be it.

But you are right that the dude in the underwear never should have made it on. But then I'll take a guess that apparently being a heavy duty frequent flier than the color of his skin. Which goes to show money talks

I agree , I am still puzzled at the fact the man who only wore a camisole and blue panties.The strange thing, noone said anything to him .Hm,even if the man was a millionaire, I am dumbfounded. If you have rules, have them for everyone who boards. Well,I sure hope those people who was on the man's flight, demanded and recieved compensation.If I was on that plane, I would not board. If hes half dressed, he is crazy! I really felt that the airlines who allowed the man onboard must be penalized . It is no excuse for alowing anyone onboard like that!

I agree , I am still puzzled at the fact the man who only wore a camisole and blue panties.The strange thing, noone said anything to him .Hm,even if the man was a millionaire, I am dumbfounded. If you have rules, have them for everyone who boards. Well,I sure hope those people who was on the man's flight, demanded and recieved compensation.If I was on that plane, I would not board. If hes half dressed, he is crazy! I really felt that the airlines who allowed the man onboard must be penalized . It is no excuse for alowing anyone onboard like that!

Posted by A_Reader
a resident of Menlo Park: Downtown
on Jul 14, 2011 at 2:06 pm

The guy in panties had nothing to hide (that's for sure). The guy with the saggy pants looked like a thug and, as the police charges confirm, acted like a thug / troublemaker. The capitan is charged with keeping everyone on an aircraft safe. If he thinks that someone that looks AND acts like a thug might be a danger, then by all means put that person on the plane.

I'm disappointed that the DA didn't file charges. I feel bad for the man's circumstances but his lact of control of his actions and attitude are what got him in the mess in the first place.

Posted by when you ain't white
a resident of Menlo Park: Linfield Oaks
on Jul 14, 2011 at 3:02 pm

a reader - "The guy in panties had nothing to hide (that's for sure)."

Glad you were able to take a good close look. Too bad you didn't take a look at the video as closely as you did the panties; you'll see Marman WASN'T acting like a thug. Besides, thugs generally don't wear pajamas on planes.

The charges you're so happy about? Didn't hold up. So, besides the video you didn't look at, the charges do not confirm he was acting like a thug.

The "capitan" was stuck between a rock and a hard place - he didn't want the cops to be called but was stuck because his crew dug a stupid hole. After the crew started the scrap, he couldn't come back and say to Marman "yer cool, you can stay." He had to "stick up" for his crew, even though it was clearly the wrong action.

But you saw the photo, saw something in the photo that made you think he was a thug. One wonders what your key bit of information was in making that premature determination. You can go back to the panties, now.